I could have been content to have taken this Moor with me, and have drowned the boy, but there was no venturing to trust him. When he was gone, I turned to the boy, whom they called Xury, and said, “Xury, if you will be faithful to me, I’ll make you a great man; but if you will not stroke your face to be true to me (that is, swear by Mahomet and his father’s beard), I must throw you into the sea, too.” The boy smiled in my face, and spoke so innocently, that I could not mistrust him; and swore to be faithful to me, and go all over the world with me.
While I was in view of the Moor that was swimming, I stood out directly to sea with the boat, rather stretching to windward, that they might think me gone towards the Straits’ mouth, as indeed any one that had been in their wits must have been supposed to do; for who would have supposed we were sailed on the southward to the truly barbarian coast, where whole nations of negroes were sure to surround us with their canoes, and destroy us; where we could never once go on shore, but we should be devoured by savage beasts, or more merciless savages of human kind?
But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening, I changed my course, and steered directly south and by east, bending my course a little toward the east, that I might keep in with the shore; and having a fair, fresh gale of wind, and a smooth, quiet sea, I made such sail, that I believe by the next day at three o’clock in the afternoon, when I first made the land, I could not be less than one hundred and fifty miles south of Sallee, quite beyond the Emperor of Morocco’s dominions, or, indeed, of any other king thereabouts, for we saw no people.
Yet such was the fright I had taken at the Moors, and the dreadful apprehensions I had of falling into their hands, that I would not stop, or go on shore, or come to an anchor, the wind continuing fair, till I had sailed in that manner five days; and then the wind shifting to the southward, I concluded also that if any of our vessels were in chase of me, they also would now give over; so I ventured to make to the coast, and come to an anchor in the mouth of a little river, I knew not what or where—neither what latitude, what country, what nation, nor what river: I neither saw, nor desired to see, any people—the principal thing I wanted was fresh water. We came into this creek in the evening, resolving to swim on shore as soon as it was dark, and discover the country; but as soon as it was quite dark, we heard such dreadful noises of the barking, roaring, and howling of wild creatures, of we knew not what kinds, that the poor boy was ready to die with fear, and begged of me not to go on shore till day. “Well, Xury,” said I, “then I won’t; but, it may be, we may see men by day, who will be as bad to us as those lions.” “Then we give them the shoot gun,” says Xury, laughing, “make them run ‘way.” Such English Xury spoke by conversing among us slaves. However, I was glad to see the boy so cheerful, and I gave him a dram out of our patron’s case of bottles, to cheer him up. After all, Xury’s advice was good, and I took it; we dropped our little anchor, and lay still all night—I say still, for we slept none—for in two or three hours we saw vast great creatures (we knew not what to call them) of many sorts, come down to the sea-shore, and run into the water, wallowing and washing themselves for the pleasure of cooling themselves; and they made such hideous howlings and yelling, that I never indeed heard the like.
Xury was dreadfully frighted, and indeed so was I, too; but we were both more frighted when we heard one of these mighty creatures come swimming towards our boat. We could not see him, but we might hear him by his blowing, to be a monstrous, huge, and furious beast; Xury said it was a lion, and it might be so for aught I know. Poor Xury cried to me to weigh the anchor, and row away. “No,” says I, “Xury, we can slip our cable with a buoy to it, and go to sea; they cannot follow us far.” I had no sooner said so, but I perceived the creature (whatever it was) within two oars’ length, which something surprised me; however, I immediately stepped to the cabin door, and taking up my gun fired at him; upon which he immediately turned about, and swam to the shore again.